writing progress

3.30.20 - #corona2020 V

Is there anyone sleeping well anymore?
Either the brain is rolling a thousand miles
An hour, in the haunted still of night
Or the walls are too tight and we’re desperate for daylight
I don’t remember the last time I laid my head down
And felt rested the next morning, renewed
We’re sitting on our hands, trying to pass the time
Reflecting on all our mistakes, all the lies


It’s been hard to be productive. I’ve gotten the job done, now thankful that I have a steady income when one out of five has filed for unemployment, including J. Trying to do yoga in the sunroom followed by elliptical bands and the recumbent bike lying in the garage, just to move a little during the week. Hoping I can find a bit of drive to really edit GR and work on the Robyn story. Need something to do, to feel useful.

J seems to have gotten L to a place where she’s a little more stable. We’re still a long way from out of the woods yet, but every day is a won day. Even when the world outside is falling into a recession unlike anything ever seen in modern history, due to a viral pandemic and a political narrative out of a Michael Chrichton novel. D is coughing less, thankfully we don’t think anyone has COVID but since there’s still not a real chance of us getting tested in our current condition, we’re just riding out the storm.

Thankful for little moments, like D winning at Cards Against Humanity. Chasing Janeway in the backyard. Playing Diablo with J at three in the morning, dancing in the living room during dinner.

2.15.20 - Query Letter

Rising from an impoverished Earth, “Crash” Downs achieved a dream: admission into the famous interstellar Ranger program. Billions will watch him and a group of underdog soldiers endure training and competition against genetically perfect opponents on the Challenge, a televised spectacle that makes celebrities out of soldiers. Yet, Crash’s fight is only a deadly distraction in a galactic game of cat and mouse between the oppressive United Corporate Federation and the star systems they subjugate. 

Behind the scenes, a savant hacker named Glitch stumbles across a devious plot by megacorporate titans to inconceivably destroy Earth completely. In a society drowning in hopelessness and fear, somehow he must convince a tenacious syndicate spy hunting him, the galaxy’s first telepath, and a gene-enhanced pilot whose dreams tell the future, to enter a fight against overwhelming odds, setting the table for the war to end all wars. The fate of humanity hangs in the balance. No matter who wins, the ultimate threat to life in the Milky Way is out in cold, unexplored space, and the waves of our gravity bomb will reach out to draw them in.

Beta Reader feedback has been overwhelmingly positive to this galaxy-crossing story told from the perspective of three imperfect souls in just under 112,000 words, Gravity’s Reach is the first of a planned science fiction saga drawing inspiration from titles like Starship Troopers, Mass Effect, and Ender’s Game.

2.15.20

I don’t know how to let go of things when I screw up.
I owned it, fixed what I wronged, yet it still left me on the floor,
I curled up on the floor, sobbing while a sweet dog nuzzled my neck.
My wife convinced me it’s time to see a psychiatrist.
She’s right, no one should be this sad and this anxious all the time.
I am afraid I’ll lose the will to write, but even that’s already a struggle.
Meanwhile, I’m putting together the query letter and synopsis
Sending Gravity’s Reach out to authors is a nerve-wracking thing.
I’m normally good at ignoring the cold hopelessness feeling,
But lately, it’s ever-chilling and I can’t seem to find a spark.